


Shutterbug

by LNC



Series: Coffee Shop Playlist [6]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Buckle up kids, F/M, Fake Dating, fake dating au, ladrien, we're out here living life and loving ladrien
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-06 20:14:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20512841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LNC/pseuds/LNC
Summary: The word is out and the gossip is in: Ladybug’s got a man on her arm and it isn’t Chat Noir.  The hottest new couple to hit the Parisian spotlight? Ladybug and Adrien Agreste.





	Shutterbug

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Alien_Duck](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alien_Duck/gifts).

> For the wonderful @alienducky that grew out of control. Shout out to @overworkedunderwhelmed for helping me with the title. It’s just what I was looking for.

_ This is a dream. This _ ** _has_ ** _ to be a dream. _

Adrien watched in fascinated horror as his father and Nathalie outlined their plan of attack to the shell-shocked love of his life. Ladybug’s arms were crossed around her stomach and her mouth hung open, just the slightest, frozen as Gabriel oh-so-casually requested– no, _ demanded _ – the superheroine’s cooperation.

“Are you okay with this?” He asked, voice low so as not to catch his clearly _ insane _ guardian’s attention.

Ladybug turned away from Gabriel and his runaway PR campaign. She gave him a somewhat wobbly smile.

“_Sure_,” She squeaked. “Yup. Tip-top. Totally fine!”

The too-perky words hung between them for a moment, suspended in horribly awkward time. Adrien knew his partner too well to know she was anything but panicking.

“It’s okay,” He said, reaching out to gently touch her arm. “I’ll get you out of this.”

“_No! _” She said, too loud. Red peeked out beneath her mask, dusting her nose and cheeks. She shook her head, tried again. “I mean– no. Th-that’s okay. I’m kind of the reason you’re in this mess in the first place, right?”

That wasn’t entirely true, but Adrien wasn’t going to point out the embarrassingly obvious. If she wanted to pretend he hadn’t made a total ass of himself to the press, well, who was he to stop her?

“Besides,” She said, shy smile peeking through her nerves. “There are worse ways to spend my time.”

“Heh,” Now it was _ his _ turn to blush. “Really? I mean, _ yeah_. Ah. Yeah.”

_ Gods strike him dead. _

He was barely in this and already making a fool of himself.

“Adrien,” His father snapped, drawing their attention back to the front of the room. “Do pay attention. This is _ your _ scandal we’re dealing with.”

“Yes, father.” He murmured.

_ Scandal. _

The word hung in the air like an accusation. Unfair, really, and an exaggeration. There wasn’t anything particularly _ scandalous _ about what was happening. It was more… sensational.

And it started, as these things usually do, with a rumor.

Some one anonymous person on the Internet or another asking the question: who _ should _ be dating Adrien Agreste?

Since the he’d ‘gone public’ on social media and started sharing more details about his personal life, speculation was rife over which if _ any _ of the girls featured on his instagram were worthy of his attention.

A ridiculous question really when, as he _ told _ his commenters, they were all just friends. On the record, he wasn’t interested in anyone.

Off the record? Well, he was working on that.

Nevertheless, the rumors spiraled, as they usually do, from there.

Clara Nightingale was written off as too old, Chloe Bourgeois as too mean, and his school friends as too low-key. It wasn’t until one inspiration-struck individual suggested Ladybug that the message boards lost their collective _ minds _.

Video mashups of Ladybug’s press conferences, fan footage, and Agreste ads started making the rounds. Doctored images of Ladybug and Adrien embracing, staring longingly into each other’s eyes, or even just standing _ near _ each other were rampant on sites like tumblr. All and any of the little _ real _ interactions the two shared were shared and dissected and shared again. One manic evening, after Audrey Bourgeois was akumatized and Ladybug was seen carrying the supermodel across the city, #ladrien started trending on Parisian twitter finally meriting the attention of major news outlets.

_ How _ all of this rumbling underbelly of Ladybug lore managed to miss him was a mystery. But whether through school or modeling or whatever it was his father scheduled to max out his free time, Adrien _ didn’t _ hear about #buggreste or #ladrien or whatever the kids were calling it these days.

That is, he _ hadn’t_, until his disastrous post-photoshoot run-in with Nadja Chamack.

“Adrien, a moment.” She said, accosting him just as he was about to enter his limo. “Is it true that you and Ladybug are dating?”

The question, one right out of his deepest, most desperate dreams, stopped him cold.

The camera focused in on him, a journalist’s dream: eyes wide and bright, cheeks so, _ so _ red.

“I–” He nearly tripped over his feet as he turned to face the reporter and her camera. “Where did you hear that?”

“So it’s true?” She asked, forcing the microphone closer.

“She– I… _ Me? _” He stammered, more flustered and starry-eyed by the minute. Unfortunately for the viewers at home, Gabriel’s assistant Nathalie stepped in front of the camera blocking him from view.

“That will be all.”

But the damage was done.

What once was a dizzy-eyed fangirl’s daydream turned into the hottest gossip to hit Paris since the superheroes first stepped onto the scene.

By the time it officially hit the Ladyblog it was regarded by everyone _ not _ in the know as fact. Alya did her best, really, she did, to stem the tides. For the sake of #ladynoir (and her best friend) she had to try. But when Monday rolled around and the contrite blogger finally managed to catch up with Marinette there really wasn’t much left to say.

“I’m so sorry, girl,” She said, throwing her arms around her friend. “No one will listen to reason.”

Marinette shrugged. “It’s okay, Alya. It’s kind of funny when you think about it.”

“It’s ridiculous is what it is,” She said. “Ladybug and Chat Noir are already together.”

“I don’t know about _ that_,” Marinette said, rolling her eyes. “But it _ is _ rather reckless. If it is true, I mean. Imagine the akumas.”

“I’m sure Adrien will be fine, M. It’s just gossip. Everything will blow over in a few days.”

Things did not blow over. 

They blew _ up _.

And Marinette could only blame herself.

It was unfair, really, for the reporters to corner her like they did. Ladybug and Chat were mid _ bien joue _ when they descended, rabid dogs wild for the latest scoop.

“Ladybug, can you comment on the Adrien situation?”

“Um,” She said, leaning further into Chat’s side as they encircled her. “No?”

Another microphone was shoved in her face. “So you’re saying you’re _ not _ interested in him?”

“_No. _ I– wait yes. I mean _ no_. I mean–” She laughed, nervous. “What was the question?”

It was a rambling mistake on her part, a Marinette-ism sneaking through the mask. But it was so hard for her to think with the flashing bulbs and shouted questions and rolling cameras. Her miraculous was beeping and Chat’s arm gripped her waist as he pulled her close.

“I believe that’s all the time Lady has for today.” Chat said, extending his baton and vaulting them up, up, upward until they reached the nearby rooftops. “Catch you later!”

Her partner was good for things like that. Unfortunately he couldn’t save her from her runaway mouth and the resulting headline carnage.  


_ Bug Outted! Secret Romance with Adrien Agreste CONFIRMED! _

_ Buggreste or Ladrien? YOU Decide. _

_ The Claws are OUT: Chat Noir and His Plan to Win Ladybug Back _

The last one featured a picture of Chat Noir sneering at the camera as he pulled a flustered Ladybug out of the paparazzi’s line of fire. For days afterwards the Internet was abuzz with the news that she was cheating on Adrien with her partner which resulted in at least one akumatization.

The whole thing was more than a little ridiculous.

For obvious reasons, Ladybug thought it best to avoid being seen anywhere near the Agreste estate, but after a swarm of reporters chased Adrien down at the school things seemed a little… desperate.

Gabriel Agreste was the one who called for the meeting.

A stern direction for Adrien to make the request on his friend’s “little blog” was enough to send the forums into a tizzy. But it was the news footage of Ladybug swinging over the vaulted gates of the Agreste manor that _ really _ set them going.

All of which culminated in this moment:

Adrien and Ladybug, red-faced and more than a little mortified, staring down the ultimate PR campaign.

“So we’re agreed then,” Gabriel said, looking down his nose at the blushing teens. “The two of you will carry on this… _ relationship _ for a time before breaking it off. The public fervor will die down and we can move on from this disaster. Are we clear?”

Adrien cast a searching look towards Ladybug, everything he’d ever wanted since he was fifteen. She met his gaze and gave him a tentative but nonetheless heartstopping smile. A small thrill shot down his spine as the reality of what they were agreeing to sunk in.

_ The opportunity to date Ladybug with his father’s blessing? _

Hell fucking _ yes_.

Adrien met Gabriel's steely gaze with his own.

“Absolutely.”


End file.
